


hold me while you wait

by thirteengrins



Series: I've got you anyway [2]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Best Friends, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Minor Injuries, Soft!Master, best enemies, cups of tea in the TARDIS, cute moments, little soft babies, sad doctor, the Master is hurt, the doctor is still the person he goes to for comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:27:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23561563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thirteengrins/pseuds/thirteengrins
Summary: The Master is hurt and he calls the Doctor for help. Light on the hurt, heavy on the comfort.Cups of tea and cuddles on the floor of the TARDIS.
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor/The Master (Dhawan)
Series: I've got you anyway [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695769
Comments: 6
Kudos: 104





	hold me while you wait

**Author's Note:**

> Part of a series of angsty one-shots -- though this one's a little fluffier than I expected it to be.

The Doctor had just dropped the fam back off in Sheffield for a little break, and found herself wandering aimlessly around the console room, humming to herself.

“Just you and me again, old girl,” she mused, aloud. The TARDIS hummed her gentle response. “On the road again.”

The phone rang, cutting through the silence.

 _Funny,_ she thought to herself, _almost forgot I had that._

Frowning, she caught a glimpse of the caller ID.

_Oh._

“This is unusual,” she said, slowly, upon answering. “We don’t usually do phone chat.”

“This is less of a casual chit-chat, and more…” She heard him gasp in pain and her heart stuttered for a moment. “…More of a distress signal.”

She didn’t need to be told twice; already getting the TARDIS to hone in on his signal, redirecting their course to find him. Even the TARDIS could feel her urgency, it seemed to be humming faster, whirring at an astronomic pace, desperate to find him.

The Doctor fought to keep her breathing steady. “I think I’ve got you. Be there in a sec. Are you still there?”

“Yeah — yes. Still here.”

“Still there, still sounding like you’re dying,” she murmured under her breath, focusing on the control panel in front of her. “Very reassuring.”

“S’fine, just… get here, please.”

“Now I _know_ you’re hurt,” the Doctor said, slamming the stabilisers on and running to the door before the TARDIS has even rattled to a halt. “You _never_ say please.”

He was there, not far from where she parked, lying on the ground surrounded by rubble. She scanned her surroundings with the sonic as she clambered towards him. _Ah._ Just a waste planet. God knows what he was scavenging for, but she hoped it was worth it.

“Can you walk?” she said once she reached him, crouching by his writhing body. Blood seeps through his shirt as she quickly scans him as well, wincing as the sonic informed her of the damage. _Internal injuries. Sonic mine blast aftershocks. Only one heart active._ “Master. Can you walk?”

“Let’s find out,” he groaned, not meeting her eyes but slinging his arm around her shoulders, letting her pull him up off the ground and towards the TARDIS.

He can’t walk, not really, but he manages to half-stumble most of the way there. The Doctor practically pushes him over the threshold, gets him lying down on the TARDIS floor, slams the door shut behind her.

“What the hell are you doing out here?” she said, suddenly. “It’s hardly like these planets are safe at the best of times, and in _this_ century…” She shook her head, sinking down next to him on the floor. “You must have a death wish.”

“Could you…” His voice was hoarse. He cleared his throat, wincing in pain. “Do you think you could spare me the lecture, just this once?”

“Never,” she quipped. “You know me.”

“Doctor…”

“Right, right, let me grab the first aid kit.”

He winced again, trying and failing to push himself into a sitting position whilst still pressing on his wound with one hand. Rolling her eyes, the Doctor lunged forward to help, pulling him up so that he sat with his back against the door. She knelt down in front of him, gently reached out to peel the shirt from the wound.

“Could you _not._ ” He hissed in pain, but she ignored him, pulling the right side of his shirt back to see the source of the bleeding. “Doctor, it’s fine. I just need to… heal for a bit, without getting blown up again.”

“S’not fine,” she mumbled, eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she ran her fingers over the wound; a huge scratch — obviously from flying shrapnel, though it didn’t look like much had gotten stuck inside of him, so _that_ was a plus… “Hang on.”

He almost smiled at the sight of her rifling underneath the TARDIS’s floor panel. “You keep a first aid kit under _there_?”

She pulled it out, triumphant. “For good reason — see? Ta da!”

It didn’t take her long to clean up the wound. By the time she’d got it dressed and disinfected, the Master already seemed like he was in less pain. He still wouldn’t move from his spot on the floor — stubborn as always — so she makes them both a cup of tea and sits with him, leaning against the wall to his left.

He sipped at the tea thanklessly, scrunching his nose up every so often. Human beverages had never really been his thing, but she doesn’t care. There’s more colour in his cheeks now; his skin was slowly letting go of its greenish tinge.

“Stop looking at me like that,” he said, for the second time, shifting uncomfortably under her gaze. “I told you. It’s _fine_.”

She took a sip of the tea, still not taking her eyes off him. “Just checking you’re still breathing, that’s all. You went down to single heart function earlier.”

“I know, I was there.”

“So? You know why I’m keeping tabs on you, then.”

“You worry too much.”

She huffed. Talking with him was useless at the best of times, never mind when he was hurt or moody. He sipped his tea with another grimace, leaning his head back against the TARDIS door.

“Why’d you call me?” the Doctor said, into the silence, cradling her mug of tea in both hands. “You never call.”

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t do that, okay? I don’t have to feel guilty for not calling you.”

She shrugged. “I’m not saying you _should_.”

With a sigh, he straightened his leg slightly to tap her ankle gently with his foot. “If you want me to call more, you only have to ask.”

She doesn’t meet his eyes.

“Stop it,” she said, weakly.

“Stop what?”

“Making fun. Pretending. This isn’t…” She took a shuddery breath, swallowed thickly. “You could have been really hurt today. You could have died.”

Ah. Now he understood. Something inside of him softened, suddenly. He set his mug of tea down on the TARDIS floor and gestured for her to move closer. “Come here.”

“No.” She swiped at wet cheeks, didn’t meet his eyes.

Wincing, he pulled himself towards her, shuffling across the floor until he was close enough to pull her into his chest. The Doctor stubbornly fought against him, determined not to give in, but she can’t do it for long. She allows to herself to be enveloped in his arms, lets him lift her legs so that they’re swung over his, lets him press her body against his chest, plant kisses on her head.

“I’m sorry,” he says, like a whisper. “I didn’t think.”

“If I lose you, I’ll be all alone,” she sniffs against him, her voice muffled. “I don’t want to lose you.”

“You won’t, love,” he promises, with a sigh, holding her tighter. “You won’t.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it. More cute thirteen / dhawan!master one-shots coming soon. Take care of yourselves out there.


End file.
